I love where I live!

Just thought I would post, if anyone is interested, a really awesome blog I just discovered about my neighborhood, Petworth in DC. Petworth, for those who don't know DC, is a subdivision created in 1889 as an extension of L'Enfant's original grid plan. The Brightwood Railway streetcar used to link the area with downtown; the neighborhood was originally home to Jewish families in the 1930's, then with desegregation in the 50's, the area became overwhelmingly African-American, then in the 80's and 90's, mixed African-American and Hispanic. Now, in the "noughties", it's undergoing another change (probably to do with the addition of the Georgia Avenue/Petworth metro station on the south end and the superb redevelopment of downtown Silver Spring to the north) and is now described as "up-and-coming" in real estate circles. We moved here, our first house since we left the UK, in 2004 - we couldn't afford the inflated prices of American University Park where we were renting, and wanted to stay in DC, and we loved the multicultural aspect, proximity to Rock Creek Park and the rich history of the area.

Anyway, this blog is called Prince of Petworth and what I really love about it is that it's very visual: the blogger has an amazing eye for detail and has posted a ton of photos of random things he's seen walking around - architectural details, weird street signs, graffiti, street art, cool gardens, anything. To me it's a really amazing, special way to get to know a neighborhood, whether you live here or not, which gives it a whole new life - especially if, like me, you're actually stuck behind a desk all day every day and don't get to do much "random wandering" in your own 'hood.

The blog has some social commentary but with a real sense of ownership too. Hmmm, sounds familiar to me...!

I've heard about a lot of similar blogs cropping up about other areas nationwide - if you know of a really good one, let me know, maybe I'll post a list!